Passwords as an authentication factor are failing in this day and age. The use of passwords present both a security and usability challenge for consumers.
Password-less authentication using biometrics has been available for some time on native smartphone apps. eBay apps support biometric authentication on both Android and IOS platforms. Up until recently, biometric authentication has been missing on web-based applications. eBay has now enabled web-based biometric authentication using WebAuthn. WebAuthn is a new standard that allows biometric-based authentication on web thereby removing the need for passwords.
Existing eBay users accessing eBay using the Chrome browser on Android devices will now be able to use biometrics to login to eBay. On supported devices, users will get an option to turn on biometrics (fingerprint or facial recognition, depending on what the device supports).
Once enabled successfully, users can use biometrics to log into eBay the next time, instead of having to use their password on that device. The return experience for a user that has opted into this feature is shown below.
With adoption of the latest industry standard for authentication (WebAuthn), eBay is also one of the first major ecommerce companies to enable biometric authentication as a first factor authentication on web browsers.
We hope this feature makes using eBay easier and more secure for our buyers and sellers.
Note: Supported devices include Android phones with biometrics enabled using the Chrome browser version 75 and higher. We plan to expand to more platforms in the future.